Pipers sweep Knights in 10 innings

Jessalyn Weaver (So., Eagan, Minn.) recorded her third win, as well as her third shutout,  of the year on the mound in the opening game, while Kelsey Tacheny (Fy., St. Paul, Minn.) earned her first shutout and second win of the season in game two.

Lead-off hitter Jourdan Ulrich (Jr., Apple Valley, Minn.) and Grace Weinreich (Jr., Wahkon, Minn.) each went went 3-for-4 in the two games, while shortstop Sophie Davidson (So., St. Paul, Minn.) hit 4-for-6. Ulrich scored two runs, Weinreich had 3 RBI and 3 runs that included two homeruns in the second game, and Davidson added 3 runs.

Hamline started the home half of the first inning of game one with hot bats, tallying five runs on six hits to take control early.

The first three batters - Ulrich, Davidson, and Weinreich, singled to load the bases. All three advanced a base on a wild pitch, scoring Ulrich for the first run of the game.

Sara Mickelson's (Sr., West St. Paul, Minn.) sacrifice fly cleared the bases for a 3-0 lead.

Brenna Healy (So., Mounds View, Minn.) then singled and stole second before Sarah Dittberner (Jr., Forest Lake, Minn.) brought her home on a single.

Dittberner moved into scoring position on a wild pitch before Kellie Hoen (Jr., Cologne, Minn.) hit an RBI double that gave Hamline a 5-0 lead after the opening inning.

The Pipers scored one run in each of the next three innings, giving them the eight-run lead they needed to end the game in the fifth inning.

In the second game, Weinreich hit a solo homerun in the first inning to put the Pipers up 1-0.

Following that up, in the second inning, first-year player Erin Farley (St. Paul, Minn.) hit her first collegiate homerun in the second game of the double-header, a two-run shot to left field with Dittberner on base to left field that gave the Pipers a 3-0 lead.

Hamline continued to build on that lead in the second inning. as Heidi Larsen (Fy., Andover, Minn.) singled, and then scored on three wild pitches. Ulrich then singled before Davidson hit an RBI double to left field that brough her home.

Weinreich's second homerun in as many innings scored two more runs, giving the Pipers a 7-0 advantage after they scored six runs on eight hits in the second inning.

Hamline added two more runs in the bottom of the third, and they held on to the lead to end the game in five innings for the 10-inning shutout sweep.

With the two wins, the Pipers improved to 6-8, 2-0 MIAC, while the Knights fell to 0-14, 0-4 MIAC. Hamline will host St. Catherine tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. in a game rescheduled from last week.

Hamline University belongs to the NCAA Division III Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, one of the most competitive conferences in the nation. Hamline supports 19 intercollegiate athletic teams for men and women. Find out more about Hamline athletics at www.hamline.edu/hamline_info/athletics.

Creative and innovative teaching and learning attract a diverse student body of nearly 4,600 undergraduate and graduate students to Hamline University. Challenged to create and apply knowledge in local and global contexts, Hamline students develop an individual and community ethic of social justice, civic responsibility, and inclusive leadership and service.

Ranked first in Minnesota among comprehensive master’s universities by U.S.News & World Report, Hamline is also Minnesota’s first university, founded in 1854, and among the first co-educational institutions in the nation.